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by By J. Robert Brame, McGuireWoods, LLP U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has announced he will retire at the end of the current Court session in June or July. Stevens, who turns 90 on April 20 and is the longest-serving member of the current Court, had hinted that a decision on retirement might […]
After a 5-4 ruling delivered January 21 by the U.S. Supreme Court, corporations and labor unions will now be permitted to spend as much as they wish on independent activities in support or opposition of presidential and congressional candidates. The restrictions on campaign expenditures had been in place for decades. In Citizens United v. Federal […]
The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court today in a 68-31 vote. As expected, the Senators voted along party lines, with all Senate Democrats and only nine Republicans voting to confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee. The final step in Sotomayor’s road to the Supreme Court will be a White House […]
On Monday (June 29, 2009), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of white firefighters in a 5-4 decision addressing workplace reverse discrimination. The Court held, in Ricci v. DeStefano, that the city of New Haven, Connecticut, violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it threw out the results of a […]
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the high-profile discrimination case involving firefighters employed by the city of New Haven, Connecticut. In a 5-4 decision, the Court reversed the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in favor of New Haven. Essentially, the Supreme Court said the city improperly threw […]
In a May 18, 2009, decision, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether women who took maternity leave decades ago (before discrimination based on pregnancy became illegal) can sue to have their pregnancy leave time count toward their pensions. The Court reversed the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling and held that […]
by Peter Panken On June 22, the U.S. Supreme Court decided an employment retaliation case in which it held that any action by an employer against an employee, applicant, or even a former employee constitutes unlawful retaliation if the action would deter a reasonable employee from filing a discrimination charge against an employer. Retaliation cases […]
After several years of employees being required to meet a very high standard to have their cases heard by a jury, that may be changing in the long term. The U.S. Supreme Court recently cautioned federal judges to be careful in the rules of evidence and legal standards for employment discrimination. The Court’s opinion offers […]